Daily Archives: 5 de March de 2018

Olumide Ilenusi, the lawyer kidnapped in Ondo State by gunmen has been freed, Sahara Reporters just learned.

Mr. Ilenusi was released on Friday by the abductors after spending a week in the captivity.

A family source confirmed his release to Sahara Reporters in a telephone chat in Akure. The source who pleaded anonymity, however, refused to disclose if a ransom was paid before Mr. Ilenusi was set free.

“Yes, he (Ilenusi) has regained freedom, and will soon be reunited with his family and members of the community. About the ransom, I cannot disclose that for now but what is more important is that our brother has been released,” he said.

Ilenusi was abducted on the bad portion of the notorious Oba Akoko road in the Akoko South Local Council Area of the state.

The 41-year-old lawyer was waylaid by and seized by the gun-wielding men on his way for a burial at a village in Oba.

His abductors had demanded a ransom of N2 million shortly after his kidnapped but later reduced the fund to N1 million.

State Security Prosecution issued a 15-day detention order for rights lawyer Ezzat Ghoneim, pending further investigations into undisclosed charges, according to a lawyer familiar with the case.

Ghoneim’s whereabouts had been unknown since March 1, until news surfaced that the rights lawyer, who is executive director of the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms, was interrogated at the State Security Prosecution in New Cairo early on Sunday morning.

State Security Prosecution interrogated Ghoneim on Sunday, without a lawyer present, and issued his 15-day detention order, pending the continuation of further interrogations tomorrow, according to a lawyer who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity and cited unofficial sources.

The Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms confirmed the news of Ghoneim’s appearance before State Security Prosecution in a Sunday afternoon Facebook post. According to the organization, lawyers waited for Ghoneim’s arrival outside the New Cairo State Security Prosecution office until 11 pm on Saturday evening, to no avail. The group added that the rights lawyer continues to be detained at an undisclosed location and that the charges leveled against him remain unknown.

Communication with Ghoneim was lost on March 1 and his wife reported his disappearance to the Interior Ministry and the Public Prosecutor’s office asking for his whereabouts.